Why The Mazda MX-5 ND is my Favourite Miata

[@culverr]

glad you liked it! 🏎️

[@KiwiCarLife]

Great car man!

[@RanenPo]

I will say NC Miatas with good aftermarket suspension really do make for a good driving experience - and I actually think the interior is slightly roomier too. Plus early ND1 manual transmissions have known issues whereas NC transmissions (both the 5spds and 6spds) are solid

[@KiwiCarLife]

That's true, the owner told me after I finished filming that the 2018-2019 ones have the most reliable gearboxes. And agree, more roomy. But (when working) the ND definitely has a much better drive

[@grantsnell6782]

Nice to see an interior with some colour.

[@KiwiCarLife]

I know! I like it

[@paulmcgregor6411]

The guys over at Redriven said with the NC with a suspension tune makes it a totally different experience driving. So the potential is there if you go looking for it.

[@davidbusch8912]

Yes, I found it interesting they ended up liking it more than the ND.

[@MrGlennner1]

My stock prht NC has been spectacular

[@KiwiCarLife]

Yeah I guess that's true with any car tbh. The small imperfections from factory can be improved on the aftermarket

[@davidbusch8912]

The timing of this vid is perfect, as I’ve been thinking of getting an ND just recently. Good job 👍

[@markg1531]

I got a red 2 liter RF last June. It’s great fun and inexpensive to run.

[@KiwiCarLife]

Nice man would recommend! You'll love it

[@richardfoulkes3083]

The answer is always a Miata. Had 1 NA, 1 NC series 1 soft top , 1 NC series 1 RF and have a ND 2.0 series 1 soft top. Moving to Melbourne shortly and will go back to a NC series 2 or 3 RF for the extra room. With some suspension mods and a touch more power added.

[@MrGlennner1]

I don't get the knock on the NC I have a stock prht and it's great!

[@KiwiCarLife]

Nice man! Gee you've owned heaps of them haha

[@2evanhaines]

Great vid the MX-5 is one of the best cars out there

[@KiwiCarLife]

Yeah man super fun for sure

[@Birmingham_racing]

This is the generation that made me love the mx5/miata again

[@KiwiCarLife]

Yeah man it looks so good!

[@darrenbudgen966]

Thank you for featuring my car, great to work with the channel! Top blokes!

[@KiwiCarLife]

Yesss good car

[@darrenbudgen966]

@@KiwiCarLifelegend ❤

[@molsen1029]

I can't help but chuckle as you're talking about the interior being nicer while the top of your head is about even with the roof line. Tight! Nice to see another tall person making it work.

[@KiwiCarLife]

True haha I didn't drive it with the roof up so wouldn't know if I'd fit. But with the roof off it was more than spacious enough!

[@iamspyvspy3077]

What a great start to the year with another top video ;) The latest MX5 is peak Mazda. It finished 2nd by the smallest of margins to the Porsche 911ST in EVO Magazine's recent Car Of The Year.

[@citrusjuicebox]

That's absolutely wild, considering the canyon between their price tags

[@KiwiCarLife]

Thanks man! And wow that is pretty crazy!

[@thatguyben3128]

_Another cool review 😎, personally I like the look of the NC but appreciate what you’re saying. Modified Miata’s are very popular in the States for track duties 💪🏼🔥_

[@KiwiCarLife]

Yeah man they make perfect sense for track or road use

[@ayske1]

My mid life crisis tastes approves the mx5 reviews ❤

[@KiwiCarLife]

Yessss

[@RanenPo]

Awesome review, glad to see a Miata on the channel. Hoping to get one in the future once life circumstances allow :)

[@KiwiCarLife]

Nice man! Would recommend you'll love it

[@victorwilks88]

Very underrated

[@KiwiCarLife]

Yess

[@falcodog2917]

Nice! The 225/45 Michelin PS4 tires on those beautiful bronze 8 inch Konig wheels look and perform terrific. It is exactly what I put on mine.

[@iamspyvspy3077]

Too big.

[@KiwiCarLife]

Yessss they're perfect

[@stevenwalk8564]

@@iamspyvspy3077good that I didn’t buy them for you then.

[@falcodog2917]

@@iamspyvspy3077 Good job we didn't buy you a set then innit.

[@JuicingDailyTV]

Commenting for the algorithm, will watch later tonight (UK time) and comment again, I wonder how long before another accord resto lol

[@KiwiCarLife]

Thanks man!

[@troynewton5833]

Nice video. To me, my ND1's interior doesn't appear or feel more luxurious than my GR86's.. Maybe it's because I have the black leather interior in the ND and the optional red interior in the 86? The brown interior here does look nice.

[@KiwiCarLife]

Yeah GR86 is significantly improved. But when the ND1 came out the GR86 was still 8 years off hitting the production line. So compared with this car's rival at the time, the GT86, it's definitely much better

[@spadgm]

My kind of car!, power isn't everything! Nice review mate!

[@KiwiCarLife]

Definitely man! Very usable

[@CMSK2]

Happy new year m8 I remember the first time I saw one of these in the Taranaki st showroom in Wellington it was one of the nicest cars I’d ever seen the rear is done so well I’d never been a big fan of mx5’s before then but this model changed that. Probably the last hurrah from Mazda imo as nothing terribly exciting has come from them since the RF Miata.

[@KiwiCarLife]

Yeah man they're such nice cars. But yes, quite sad Mazda seems to be dying. Tried to go too upmarket, people don't want to spend 100k on a mazda. They'll buy audi or BMW

[@snggarageeng]

on of my dream cars

[@KiwiCarLife]

Yessss

[@jorgeecheverri]

NC. precio, espacio, simplicidad, confiabilidad y es muy muy fácil de modificar.

[@JuicingDailyTV]

You should also include a breakdown of any profit or losses you make when doing the accord restorations, we know you don't do it for money or to make a profit but it would be cool to know

[@KiwiCarLife]

Yeah problem is people use that to their advantage when trying to buy my cars. They know what it owes me and negotiate accordingly

[@pgilb70]

Excellent review

[@KiwiCarLife]

Thanks

[@Sam-zc3oe]

Wow another Miata

[@KiwiCarLife]

Yesss

[@OMGWTFFYA]

Good review

[@jiarneastwood5181]

See these everywhere with the top down now its summer in hamilton. Id argue they're the most fun per $ car produced, assuming you dont have a preference for something else

[@KiwiCarLife]

Yeah man they're super fun. I'd argue a Z4 for similar money would be faster and "nicer" but this is also great

[@mr_loza0733]

a great car to review next if the possibility comes up is is a early 2000's VW bora sport V6 4 motion however Miata's are still rather epic

[@KiwiCarLife]

That would be cool! A mate of mine had a supercharged one

[@stefantenzer4363]

Please also consider that honda engines with that kind of power had vtec, which the Mx5 doesn't use. So this engine is a NA wonder 👍

[@danielnicholson6174]

I had an NC for about 6 months but it didn't do much for me, I thought the interior plastics/leather were really poor quality the steering lacked any real feeling and the engine only sounded good with the roof down, I had a chance to drive a Mazda 2 whilst I had the NC and the Mazda with the 1.5 felt alive compared to the 2.0 in the NC, this may be the throttle calibration your describing. I believe part of the issue with the NC is the gearing which is set up for grand touring and fuel economy over outright fun.

[@KiwiCarLife]

Yeah agree, the NC I found to be a little lackluster, especially compared with this. I've reviewed a manual mazda2 1.5 too and it was great fun

[@perpetualgrin5804]

Been overseas for 2 months, bliss is coming home to my cat and ' 380 '. No not the plane !.😅

[@KiwiCarLife]

Oh what a beast, I must review a 380. Nearly bought one from Turners Auctions because of your barrage of comments haha

[@perpetualgrin5804]

@KiwiCarLife I will wear you down & transform your views on the 380.

[@richardmichael59]

NC PRHT 2 series all day long. NDs are priced out of my budget for a “fun” vehicle.

[@KiwiCarLife]

Yeah they're still quite expensive aye... can get an early 2015 one for 20k ish though

[@MegaMadmax1000]

When are you next in Christchurch? Id love to see you review my E36

[@KiwiCarLife]

For sure man! Hit me up on insta @kiwicarlife.yt or send me an email [e-mail]

[@dhlry]

how much headroom do you have on closed top?

[@KiwiCarLife]

Ahh see I should have tried it with the roof up. I know I fit fine in the NC, ND looks a little tighter, but the owner was about my height too and fit fine

[@mattandcarol]

Did you drive the ND RF with the roof up? I found headroom much worse than its competitors (s2000/mr-s/gt86 etc)

[@culverr]

I’m 6”2 and don’t touch the roof

[@mattandcarol]

👍 I’m 6’1” and do :) think it’s mainly down to torso length too

[@KiwiCarLife]

Yeah I should have driven it with the roof up to test it tbh. The owner was about my height and fit fine. I'm 6'0"

[@ricefield]

miata!!

[@KiwiCarLife]

Yessss

[@opticnurvy]

the cemetery

[@KiwiCarLife]

Yes

[@Andrew-vd2ko]

Showed this to my friend... They say please slow down on your talking speed as some words make you sound Bugs Bunny... You are doing well...

[@KiwiCarLife]

It's not talking speed, I have a rhotacism. Difficulty saying words with R's in them. Can't do anything about it

[@Andrew-vd2ko]

I also have speech problems and recently had all my top teeth removed and had to learn to speak again without any top teeth... I enjoy your videos and wonder if you could speak a little slower maybe it would make the words easier for you to say. I really enjoy your content and want to see you grow and do better as things explode. I am trying to be helpful no disrespect intended. ​@@KiwiCarLife

[@Merdaccielord]

First Is the best.... LOL

[@KiwiCarLife]

The NA’s are very cool

[@MrGlennner1]

NC is is as great as any other generation Miata! Especially with the PRHT! It also looks better than the RF with the tops up.

[@KiwiCarLife]

I would have to disagree, it looks cool, especially the facelift, but unless you can do something about the throttle response, it kinda kills the experience. Not to mention it's the heaviest with not as much power as the ND. If I purely wanted a sports car and couldn't afford the ND, I'd get NB 1.8 RS

[@KISS_M3_XD]

Good car to kiss in ngl

[@KiwiCarLife]

HAHA yes you're quite close together in there lol